Clasp.



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CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED OUT- 28, 1913.

. Patented Sept. 15,1914.

FREDERICK SEEBER. OF NEW YORK, N; Y.

CLASP.

Specification of Letters Patent.-

l ateiited Sept. 15, 1914.

Application filed October 28, 1913. Serial No. 797.781.

To all whom it may com-cm Be it known that I, FREDERICK SEEBER, acitizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county andState of l\' cw York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Clasps, of which the tollowing is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

This invention relates to clasps, and has for its object to provide aclasp which is simple in construction, very inexpensive to manufacture,and which is capable of tcnaciously gripping a arment or other article.

A specia object is to provide movable locking means which may beretained in either a locked or unlocked position without danger of itsbeing accidentally displaced from one position to the other.

Other objects will appear as the description proceeds.

The invention will be first hereinafter do scribed in connection withthe accompanying drawings, which constitute a part of thisspecification, and then more specifically defined in the claims at theend of the description.

In the accompanyin drawings, in which similar reference characters areused throughout the several-views to designate corresponding parts:Figure 1 is a perspective view of a clasp constructed in accordancewith my present invention, the same being drawn to an enlarged scale andsnown in its locked or gripping position. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe clasp with its locking member or band in thesame'position as in Fig.1, and Fig. 3 is an edge view, partly in section to more clearlyillustrate the construction of the locking tongue.

It will be understood that the clasp may be used for a'great variety ofpurposes and may be attached to or carried by various articles ofwearing apparel, such as suspenders, hose supporters, etc. As shown inthe drawings, the clasp A is attached to a support'G of any sort, a tapeattached to a pair of suspenders (not shown) for instance. The clasp ismade of a single piece or strip of resilient metal bent upon itself toform opposing jaws B and C. Between the loop formed at the bend of thestrip for attachment to the supporting member G, and the gripping endsof the jaws, said jaws or 0p- .posing portions of the clasp aredepressed or bent inward toward each other, so that in 1 edge view theclasp is shaped somewhat like the figure 8 with enlargements or spreadportions at the to and bottom connected by a narrow or reuced neck.Around this neck or reduced portion of the clasp a locking or clampingband or member D is mounted. Said band is adapted to slide down part Wayover the flared lower por- -"tions of the jaws for forcing or clampingthem together or in engagement with opposite surfaces of an article H tobe supported or retained, but the size of said band is such that itcannot pass entirely over the lower ends of the jaws and becomedisconnected from the clasp.

In order to hold the locking or clamping band in locked or unlockedposition, I provide a locking tongue E which is formed by slitting oneof the jaws as clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The upper end ofthis tongue is joined to and integral with the jaw from which it is cut,while the lower end of said tongue is free and normally stands away fromsaid jaw, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The extremity of the tongue 7 isbent sharply inward, as at.- F, to form an abrupt abutment for the.upper edge of the locking band when the latter is in clamping position,Figs. 1 and 2. The protruding end of the tongue also serves to hold thelocking band in its raised or unlocked position, as shown in Fig. 3.

It will be observed that the tongue is sufliciently long and extends upnear enough to the juncture of the two aws to give it practically anindependent movement with respect to the jaw from which it is cut, or inother words the. tongue may be depressed independently of the jaw and,vice versa. Thus the tongue has the same effect as a separate lockingdevice, and yet is much simpler in construction and can'be very cheaplymade, inasmuch as the whole clasp may be stamped and struck up from asingle straight strip of metal, there being no separate parts to beattached and which are so apt to work loose or get out of order.

Having thus described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is 1. A clasp comprising opposing jaws.

normally spread but adapted to yield toward each other, a clamping bandmounted to slide simultaneously along both jaws, and a resilient tongueintegral with one of said jaws for retaining said band in either lockedor unlocked position.

2. As an article of manufacture, a clasp comprising an integral grippingmember In testimony whereof I have signed my having opposing jaws and alocking tongue name to this specification in the presence of cut fromone of said jaws, and a clamping two attesting witnesses. band mountedto slide simultaneously along FREDERICK SEEBER.

a both jaws and over said tongue, the latter Witnesses:

serving to retain said band in either a locked 7 Sr JACKSON, or unlockedposition. P. OFARRELL.

